It’s probably fair to say LeBron James hasn’t handled the emergence of Stephen Curry particularly well, but the Cleveland star could end up having the last laugh this season.
While the Golden State Warriors sensation was recently named the NBA’s MVP for the second successive year, King James is doing his best to ensure he ends the postseason with the silverware that really matters: the NBA championship and the NBA Finals MVP.
With everyone focusing on the Warriors’ seemingly inevitable march towards the title for a second year running, a LeBron-inspired Cavaliers have breezed through the opening two rounds of the play-offs, recording eight wins in a row and looking like championship winners. Despite having four NBA MVP awards to his collection, James hasn’t appeared to embrace watching on as many in the sport have been quick to forget him in the face of Curry’s achievements. At 31, King James knows that one day he’s not going to be able to realistically call himself the best player in the world but, despite some claiming Curry has already surpassed him, the Cavs captain knows leading Cleveland to their first NBA championship and collecting the Finals MVP would go a long way to proving he is still the man at the top of the sport.
While Golden State are priced at 11/10 at the time of writing with the bet365 NBA Championship odds, the form of both Cleveland and their inspirational skipper during the play-offs has cast some serious doubt in the mind that assumed this was a one-horse race.
For James, having been placed firmly in the shadow of Curry throughout the past two years, his incredible performances in the Cavs’ faultless postseason so far has been a timely reminder that he isn’t ready to give up his place as basketball’s king.
Aiming for his sixth successive appearance in the NBA Finals, James is still yet to lift the title in a Cleveland jersey. Having won the NBA championship twice during his time in Florida with the Miami Heat, James has ensured he will go down in history alongside the game’s best.
But guiding Cleveland to their first ever championship would certainly go some way to cutting the gap between James and the true legends of basketball, not to mention put him in line to be named NBA Finals MVP for the third time in his career.
While Curry has started to show the effects of a gruelling and historic regular season, James hasn’t exhibited any real signs of fatigue. As well as averaging 23.5 points a game this postseason, LeBron has been sensational across the court, weighing in with almost eight assists a game and doing work both in defense as well as offense.
Playing in a very capable but limited Cavs team, the captain has lifted the performance of the whole roster, leading by example and making it very clear that he is in no way ready to step aside and let the Warriors lift the title just yet.
